2.

4 ALUMINUM ALLOYS AND TEMPERS

2.4.1 Introduction
While sometimes it is appropriate to bake flour mixed with nothing but water,
such as when one is hurrying out of Egypt with a pharoah in hot pursuit,
baked goods are generally improved by the judicious addition of other ingredients.
Whether the base is bran flour or corn flour, transforming the flour
into muffins requires throwing in a pinch of this or that. So it is for alloys.
Whether the base metal is iron or aluminum, it is rarely used in its pure form.
Small amounts (often less than 1%) of other elements, which are sometimes
called hardeners, are required to attain more useful properties.
One of the properties of critical interest for structural metals is their
strength. Unalloyed aluminum has an ultimate tensile strength of about 13
kips/ in.2 (ksi) [90 MPa]. This value can be increased by more than 30 ksi
[200 MPa], however, by adding a dash of zinc, then throwing in a pinch or
two of copper and magnesium and just a smidgen of chromium. Putting this
recipe in the oven and heating it at the prescribed temperature and duration
can bring the strength up to more than 80 ksi [550 MPa]. Variations on the
ingredients and heating instructions can yield alloys to meet almost any
engineering
appetite.
Aluminum alloys are divided into two categories: wrought alloys, those
that are worked to shape, and cast alloys, those that are poured in a molten
state into a mold that determines their shape. The Aluminum Association
maintains an internationally recognized designation system for each category,
described in ANSI H35.1, Alloy and Temper Designation Systems for Aluminum
(42). The wrought alloy designation system is discussed in the next
section and the cast alloy system in Section 3.1.4. While strength and other
properties of both wrought and cast products are dependent on their ingredients,
or the selective addition of alloying elements, further variations on
these properties can be achieved by tempering. Tempering refers to the alteration
of the mechanical properties of a metal by means of either a mechanical
or thermal treatment. Temper can be produced in wrought products by the
strain-hardening that results from cold working. Thermal treatments may be
used to obtain temper in cast products, as well as in those wrought alloys
identified as heat-treatable. Conversely, the wrought alloys that can only be
strengthened by cold work are designated non-heat-treatable.
2.4.2 Wrought Alloys
The Aluminum Association�s designation system for aluminum alloys was
introduced in 1954. Under this system, a four-digit number is assigned to
each alloy registered with the Association. The first number of the alloy
designates
the primary alloying element, which produces a group of alloys with
similar properties. The Association sequentially assigns the last two digits.